...WE ARE BACK!

The story of our expedition in a nutshell

The happy days in Alizee are over for this time and expedition nutshell is back in Longyearbyen. The wakes of the old sailors has been challenged by the new sailors’ skills and the wilderness of Spitsbergen has been explored. We had wind in the sails most of the time, and when the wind was not with us the porridge engine was used. Patience became our friend in the await to set the sails.

The island of Prins Karls Forland was our goal for the expedition. This is an 80 km long island on the west side of Spitsbergen. After crossing the sound Forlandssundet we reached our first stop on the island, Selvĺgen, a bay in the middle, were we were literally blown directly in with the sudden storm catching us in the middle of the sound. Here we got to know the seamonster living in the bay, and paid it sufficiently for our stay. The northern tip was also visited. After a whole day of rowing on a dead calm see, we anchored Alizee in Richard laguna, which is a nice shallow laguna with a narrow opening 15 km south east from the tip. From there we had a nice walk to Fuglehuken, the northern tip of Prins Karls Forland and the northern most point the expedition reached. On the way we tried if we had good fortune in fishing for the famous big arctic charr, but it seemed we didn’t brought the right fishing equipment. In Fuglehuken we had two relaxing cabin days and a midtrip washing session, in the greenest part of Svalbard.

The Expedition in numbers:      Sailing:     420 km    Rowing:      70 km    Hiking:      110 km      ...and an infinite amount of  knowledge and experience

We turned the bow south again, and on the way back we visited the trappers paradise, Farmhamna, befor we turned into Isfjorden. After a windless weather forecast from the expeditions own meterolog, Peter, we decided to cross Isfjorden to Kapp Lajla. Here we spent the last days of Expedition Nutshell until we found our way back to Longyearbyen, the homeport of Alizee.

Find pictures of the expedition here 

An expedition video clip here 

Thank you for the jurney

the sailors

Description:

Nutshell 2009, in the wake of the old sailors

ALIZÉE and her two crew members Máret Heatta and Ulli Neumann will follow the footsteps of former expeditions along the west coast of Svalbard. The more then 4 week long expedition will leave Longyeabyen by early August and return by middle September 2009.

Special focus will be given to historical landing sites of Samis, indigenous people of northern Europe. They have been invaluable travel companions to many polar explorers during the past and present. Their profound knowledge about the nature far north was very important for those navigating in poalar seas and explore land areas in the far north.

No engine will support the expedition. Wind, current, sail and oar are the only ways we will use to move. 

we belive life doesnt get longer if you move faster